Africans Win At Boston Marathon

The scene at the start of the elite women's division of the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Dominick Reuter Reuters /Landov

Originally published on April 15, 2013 2:54 pm

Ethiopian runner Lelisa Desisa won the men's division at this year's Boston Marathon on Monday, finishing the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 10 minutes and 22 seconds. It's the first win at Boston for the 23-year-old.

Update at 4:50 p.m. ET: After we published our post on the race's results, two explosions at the Boston Marathon brought deadly violence and chaos to the area near the finish line. We're following that story here. Our original post continues:

Hitting the tape at 2 hours, 26 minutes and 25 seconds, Kenya's Rita Jeptoo won the women's side of the race. It was her second win in Boston. In 2006, Jeptoo finished No. 1 in a time of 2:23:38.

Americans finished fourth in both the men's and women's divisions — Jason Hartmann among the men; Shalane Flanagan among the women.

The Boston Marathon was first run in 1897. It's the "world's oldest annual marathon and one of the world's most prestigious road races," as organizers say. The top finishers were competing for more than $800,000 in prize money.